CHRONIC PAIN

An unpleasant sense of discomfort that persists or progresses over an extended period of time (greater than 3 months). In contrast to ACUTE pain, which arises suddenly in response to a specific injury, lasting a shorter time and responds favorably to simplistic treatments.

Pain management can be categorized as: 1) Interventional, 2) Non-interventional.  Many people have been exposed to both. Briefly, Interventional is just that-injections, implanted stimulators, epidural blocks, minimally invasive surgery, and other things that hurt! Also medicine will be prescribed. Non-interventional treatment includes prescription medications, therapy, and detailed patient-doctor conversations (sadly, much of which has dwindled over the medical years). Discussions are centered around treating the individual's problems(as a whole) not just the symptoms.  Exercise, family integration, stressing a return to some type of work, and most important finding something for the patient to do other than feel bad (improving self worth and positivity)!

The specific goal becomes help "The patient manage the pain, and not let the pain manage the patient"!